It is entirely up to you, whether you can "be" "a professional." Find a few whose track record is good, and learn how they conducted themselves along the learning curve, and what it is that makes them "professional." Ask someone in your local area to mentor you, or go where there are enough pro performers that you can find a mentor.

The music is "merely" part of the product. To do this you ned to know what the rest of the product is, how to deliver it, and how to be a business person managing it all. In the end, it's more about how you handle yourself in the music envorinment-- on stage and off stage-- that will make the difference. In the long run, it's less about the ability to play and sing well.

~Susan